Working out has always been the answer to many health issues, and now there’s a new study that suggests it could in fact help us against aging. If you’re looking for a miracle drug, exercise is the closest thing you can get. Regular movement benefits both the mind and the body and it will be your first line of defense against the wear and tear of daily life. The study was published at the Journal of the American Heart Association and it revealed that older people who spent less time sitting and moved around more had fewer heart disease signs.
The study involved 1,600 volunteers from Britain, all aged between 60 and 64 years. The participants wore heart sensors for five days. The researchers then did an analysis of the activity level among participants and then compared these data with indicators of heart disease. These indicators included cholesterol precursors as well as a substance called interleukin-6. The results showed that participants who had a higher activity level were able to record a lower level of all these negative heart measures.
These effects were even more noticeable when they were analyzed during the activity. For example, in 10-minute chunks of exercise such as playing tennis, walking, or even gardening, active participants were able to record significant improvements in at least one of the biomarkers of heart health. Completely different results were reported on people who spent more of their time sitting.
These findings will add to an increasingly large body of evidence that suggests physical exercise can help reduce the risk of heart disease. Ahmed Elhakeem, author of this study, says that it’s extremely important for people, especially seniors, to try replacing time spent sedentary with a simple exercise routine. The study recommends both cardio and strength training. Cardio exercises like aerobics get the heart pumping and sweat flowing across the body; and on the other hand, strength training helps keep aging muscles from weakening.
The heart tends to get stiff with age, and these exercises can help deal with the issue, especially the left part of the heart, which is responsible for circulating oxygenated blood across the body. It’s also the most vulnerable to heart-related conditions, and exercise may help extend its longevity.
Exercise can also help improve heart performance leading to other benefits. For example, a heart that’s efficiently pumping blood helps delivering energy to all parts of the body. Of course, this has overall positive effects on patients’ health. A study published at the Journal of Circulation found that people who had supervised exercise for four or five days a week were able to record improvements in heart performance over time. However, the intensity of the work out is the most important thing. It doesn’t matter how much time you spend walking. How fast you walk will have more benefits than how long you do it.
